I know as I write this I’m setting myself up to be ridiculed and blasted by some angry fans out there. And that’s okay, because I’m not ashamed of being called a homer, a “looper” or any other name you can think of. And before some of you say I get paid to be, let me point out that I am not paid to write this blog. I’m not a card carrying member of the media, I’m not employed by the Chronicle or the Texans organization. I’m just a fan. Just a guy that loves my hometown football team and the sport of football in general.

So with that said, let me say this loud and proud:

No matter what happens Saturday, I am proud of what this team has done this season!

Here’s how I see it. And before you put me on full blast, at least read through and hear me out. Then feel free to blast me all you want. I really don’t mind.

Football is a game, and games are meant to be entertainment. Granted, no loss by our hometown team is very entertaining, but you have to take the good with the bad. Only one team in NFL history has ever won every regular season game all the way to a Super Bowl championship. In fact, there’s more bad teams out there annually than good ones.

I know, I know, it’s Super Bowl or bust. We all want that championship, and I think us Houston sports fans deserve a few, especially in the sport of football. We’ve suffered the playoff meltdowns and letdowns, we’ve suffered through the dismal seasons and seasons of no football at all, so yes, we deserve it. But as much as we deserve a championship, our team deserves our undying loyalty and support.

That doesn’t mean we have to relinquish our right to complain and whine and cry and voice our displeasure. You have every right to do so. After all, it’s us fans that buy the tickets and the gear and the beer, so if anyone has the right, it’s us fans. So whine and complain away.

As for me, whining and complaining makes me miserable. I’m miserable enough as it is watching my Texans squander an 11-1 start to the season, only to drop to the #3 seed in the AFC in the final 4 games. I certainly don’t need any added misery. And call me a homer if you like, but I choose to always look for the positives.

For instance, we could be stuck with the Browns, Bengals, Chiefs, Bucs, or any number of other teams that historically suck. Cleveland has lost 11 games or more in the past 5 seasons and have but a single playoff appearance since their return to the NFL in 1999. We joined the NFL again in 2002 and just enjoyed our 3rd consecutive winning season and second consecutive AFC South championship and second playoff berth.

Every one of the dozen teams in the playoffs has problems, which was appropriately pointed out in this article. Some squeaked into the playoffs, some got there on weak schedules (Denver played two playoff teams all season, while the Texans played 6 of 12), so for every team in the post season, there are fans moaning and groaning about one aspect of the team or another.

There’s your silver lining, folks. Be mad at Kubiak and Schaub and Smith and McNair and even me, if you want. Get it out of your system. Stomp around the house and beat your chest all you want. Start a petition to fire the whole coaching staff and trade all the players. But come Saturday, support your team with enthusiasm and fervor like it’s the last game you’ll see them play this season, because in reality, it could actually be the last game you see them play this season.

And so what if it is? We will get over it. It’ll suck, don’t get me wrong, but I’ll survive and look towards the draft and free agency and OTA’s and mini-camps and training camps and preseason, until next season arrives. I’ll be disappointed with a first round exit, and I’ll have plenty of opinions as to why it happened the way it happened after the Texans gave me so much to hope for in the first 12 games. I’ll stomp my feet and beat my chest for days if they lose come Saturday.

But once it’s all said and done and all the lockers have been cleared out and all the articles about blown expectations and squandered talent and all that goes with a playoff bust settles, I’ll still be proud of what this team has given me this season.

Why? Because it’s just a game, and games are meant to be entertaining. And for 12 out of 16 of those games, I was very entertained. Ecstatic even. Because they could’ve gone 2-14. Or 8-8 yet again. But they didn’t. This Texans team, despite losing my favorite player, despite playing possum against powerhouse teams like Green Bay and New England, made me proud 12 out of the 16 times they took the field. Is that good enough? Well of course it isn’t. Anything short of a Lombardi celebration is unsatisfactory. But 31 teams every year end their seasons without that trophy. Some without any trophies. There’s no parade for 2nd place. Or 4th. Or 32nd.

So before you set out to build a Texans bonfire fueled by all your Texans gear Saturday night, remember the good that these Texans did this season. Our boys in battle red played their hearts out this season and gave us plenty of reasons to be proud. I’m not saying you should lower your standards of demanding championship football in Houston, I’m just saying give credit where credit is due. If your kids play poorly in little league, do you scrap them and blast them and root for the neighbor’s kids? Of course not. Demand excellence always, from your team, from your coaches, and from your local team owner, but don’t blast them relentlessly and quit watching the games just because they’re not perfect. I actually read a comment by a reader on another article that said he wouldn’t even watch the game because he’s lost all confidence in this team. Wow, really? Poor guy. Even his entertainment isn’t entertaining to him anymore.

At the end of the season, a 12-4 season full of excitement and thrills on the football field, a year in which we saw a second year kid come within 2.5 sacks of making NFL history, a season in which we saw the re-emergence of our first legit Hall of Fame candidate, a year in which we got to gloat by the water cooler more often than not, we should be proud. No matter what happens this Saturday, be proud of what this team has done and focus your sights on the next game, be it next weekend or next season.

The Texans played their hearts out for us this season, they gave us something to be proud of more often than they didn’t, and for that, they deserve our respect.